Lunar Meteorite: Northwest Africa 16315
from The Meteoritical Bulletin, No. 113 Northwest Africa 16315 (NWA 16315)Mauritania Lunar meteorite (melt breccia) History: Purchased from a dealer in 2023. Physical Characteristics: A single partially crusted and oriented stone. The cut face shows a dark gray interior with sporadic white areas. Flow features are easily visible in hand specimen. Petrography: (J.T. Mitchell, UMin) Grey impact melt sample with very few clasts preserved. The meteorite is instead dominated by a glassy feldspathic melt (81.1 vol%) with entrained olivine grains that appear as angular zoned fragments, radiating needle-like crystals that have nucleated in the melt, or as non-zoned subrounded fragments. Tear-drop shaped vesicles are observed in the melt that may function as a “way up” indicator. Some vesicles reveal the fine-scale structure of the melt in their exposed inner surfaces. A fragment of a fine-grained basaltic lithology is preserved in a very small clast in the sample used for analysis. Geochemistry: (J.T. Mitchell, UMin) Grey impact melt sample with very few clasts preserved. The meteorite is instead dominated by a glassy feldspathic melt (81.1 vol%) with entrained olivine grains that appear as angular zoned fragments, radiating needle-like crystals that have nucleated in the melt, or as non-zoned subrounded fragments. Tear-drop shaped vesicles are observed in the melt that may function as a “way up” indicator. Some vesicles reveal the fine-scale structure of the melt in their exposed inner surfaces. A fragment of a fine-grained basaltic lithology is preserved in a very small clast in the sample used for analysis. Classification: Lunar (melt breccia). Specimens: 25 g at UMin;Main mass with Craig Zlimen. |
Randy Says… I have not studied Northwest Africa 16315. |
More InformationMeteoritical Bulletin Database NWA 16315 |